Need Help Organizing Art Supplies

Q: Arts and crafts are BIG in my house with my (almost) 3-year-old - and next week at his birthday, he'll be sure to get a TON of craft supplies and art projects. I have been sorting out the materials as they come in and trying to keep them in bins, but it's starting to get even more confusing with the bins now! There is stuff everywhere in bins and to just pull together a project on the fly takes too much hunting for things. (Having the supplies out for my son to get on his own isn't an option at this point either - as I also have a crawling 6-month-old who is into EVERYTHING and the 3-year-old hasn't grasped the 'no small objects for baby' concept yet.) [continued...]

Sent by Jendra

I have started to have a larger box that is meant for free-range crafting, and having smaller bins with specific projects, but I'd love to hear some tips from others! How do others organize their arts and crafts stuff and where do you store it? What do you do with all the extra/double/random items? And for those who homeschool - how do you organize all the craft AND the learning supplies?! In the spirit of the toy cleaning thing going on here - do you ever go through your craft supplies and get rid of them? What do you do with them? How much is TOO much?!

Editor: If you haven't already, I put some arts & crafts supply organization photos in the inspiration gallery near the bottom of this post (3rd row). Readers, do you also have a large collection of art supplies? Any tips for Jendra?